Then there was Nado. To have become the leader of a 100,000-strong Headhunter Tribe at such a young age, especially in the dog-eat-dog environment of the Headhunter Race, spoke volumes about his intellect and capability. He was young, sharp-minded, and ruthless—by no means an easy man to deal with.

’Those little goblin runts are incredibly stupid,’ he thought. ’They started a war with the Undead not because they were worried about the Undead growing stronger, but simply because they lost and couldn’t stomach it. But since they’re also afraid of dying, they want to team up with us two to attack the Undead and get some payback. That’s all there is to it.’

"Yes! Yes! Let’s get them while the Undead are still weak! We’ll go kill them!" With Nado’s support, the goblins saw their chance and immediately started clamoring.

The Lizardman chieftains merely shot them a silent glance before ignoring the creatures, not even bothering to waste a single word on them. Inwardly, however, they were sneering. ’These goblins are truly idiotic. Even if we go to war with the Undead, do they really think they can just hide in the back and reap the rewards?’

’Goblins like them, who are weak in a fight but love to make a scene, should obviously be sent to the front lines as cannon fodder to thin the Undead’s ranks.’

"We don’t need to waste any more time here," Nado said, not bothering to argue. "Moss, will you join us to eliminate the Undead?" Regardless of whether the Lizardmen joined the fight, he was determined to go to war with the Undead—and the goblins *had* to participate.

’And if the goblins don’t want to join the war?’

Heh. ’Is that even a question? If the goblins refuse, we’ll just make an example of them before we even march on the Undead. That’ll be enough to force them onto the battlefield.’

Nado even hoped the goblins would refuse. That would give his people a reason to attack them, providing not only a massive amount of cannon fodder but also plenty of fresh rations.

Should they continue to let the Undead run rampant and grow unchecked, or should they ally with the Headhunter Race and the goblins to eliminate them in one fell swoop? Moss turned to the chieftains behind him, conferred with them quietly for a few moments, then faced Nado again.

"We Lizardmen agree to join the war to eliminate the Undead."

"Excellent. Then prepare for battle."

Nado nodded in satisfaction and stood up to leave. The goblin chieftains, meanwhile, were jumping up and down, shouting, "We’ll fight too!" and "We goblins will join the war!" but neither Nado nor Moss paid them any mind.

There was no need to discuss battle plans. The Desert Tribes had always fought their own wars, at most coordinating along racial lines. There was no such thing as an overall commander for the Alliance Army; each leader only needed to worry about their own forces.

Even against a few thousand Undead, they had to be completely focused. This wasn’t a simple matter of victory or defeat. They had to ensure that not a single Undead escaped, or else a much larger force would soon return.

The various chieftains left the underground cavern one by one to return and assemble their forces.

...

「Wraith Mountain Range.」

Under the moonlight, countless Skeleton Undead formed four long lines. Seen from the air, they looked like ants carrying food—a dense, yet orderly, procession.

Two lines headed into the mountain caves, and two lines returned from them. They ceaselessly transported Corpse Remains from the Corpse Mountain Soul Gathering Ground to the main keep of the fortress, while more Skeleton Undead departed from the keep to join the procession to the caves.

A workman must first sharpen his tools if he is to do his work well.

Li Ziyu had converted all the Corpse Remains recovered from the Wraith Mountain Range into Skeleton Undead, using them to transport even more Corpse Remains. Despite this, he was still not satisfied with the collection speed.

The Corpse Remains in the Corpse Mountain Soul Gathering Ground didn’t even need to be excavated; they just had to be picked up and brought back. But without proper transport equipment, the process was still incredibly slow.

"Things would be so much easier if we had some kind of vehicle," Liu Xingxing sighed, looking out from a high vantage point at the densely packed, tirelessly laboring Undead.

The Undead were certainly diligent. They made trip after trip without complaint, seemingly enjoying the endless, tireless work. The only problem was their speed.

Huh?

’That’s it!’

Liu Xingxing had no idea his offhand comment had just given Li Ziyu an idea. ’Cars, vans, and trucks are obviously out of the question,’ Li Ziyu thought, ’but I can make minecarts!’

Before coming to the Wraith Mountain Range, he had specifically researched the resource station and unlocked the Resource Station - Ore Collection Point.

’The Ore Collection Point unlocked the Miner’s Pickaxe and didn’t mention anything else, but for a dedicated mining structure, having minecarts should be normal, right?’

’I’ll give it a try. It doesn’t cost much anyway, just 10 units of Skeleton. Before, that might have stung a little, but now that I’m sitting on a mountain of Corpse Remains, 10 units of Skeleton is just a drop in the bucket.’

’Besides, I was planning to start mining in the Wraith Mountain Range anyway. Even if it’s useless for moving Corpse Remains, I can just use it for actual mining. There’s no downside.’

Without a second thought, he selected a spot near the cave entrance and chose to build the Resource Station - Ore Collection Point.

After 10 units of Skeleton were consumed, 10 Skeleton Undead appeared and shambled toward the construction site.

’Wait, what? Are they planning to build it themselves?’

’So the 10 units of Skeleton were just to summon 10 builder Undead?’

’But how are they going to build a collection point just by going over there empty-handed?’

Li Ziyu: ???

He was utterly confused, able only to watch as the Undead walked over, linked together, and dropped to the ground. Their bones twisted in a bizarre fashion, forming a small, square-shaped structure...

Huh???

Liu Xingxing and Li Ziyu stared at the scene, both completely dumbfounded. ’Holy crap,’ they thought. ’A *literally* man-made resource point!’

Li Ziyu rolled his eyes. ’No wonder it required 10 units of Skeleton. It’s literally a piece of Skeleton Architecture, through and through.’

Once the 10 Undead finished Splicing the resource point together, a host of new items appeared in his system.

For example: 5 Miner’s Pickaxes could be crafted for 1 unit of Skeleton, 1 meter of track could be laid for 1 unit of Skeleton, and a minecart could be created for 10 units of Skeleton, among other things.

’The reason the system didn’t mention the tracks and minecarts must be because they’re considered part of the resource point itself,’ Li Ziyu guessed, ’so it didn’t list them separately.’

’Damn it, this system is such a ripoff! Who knew that after building the resource point, I’d still have to spend more Skeleton to craft the items? I’m lucky I stumbled upon the Corpse Mountain Soul Gathering Ground, otherwise I’d be completely screwed.’

Still, he had to admit, the Ore Collection Point had been a pleasant and genuinely useful surprise.

There was nothing more to discuss. It was time to build. He first halted the summoning of Skeleton Undead and switched production to laying tracks. There was no need to dig new tunnels; he could just lay them directly along the existing cave passages.

As for the cost of laying the tracks, Li Ziyu didn’t even consider it a problem. ’Lay them!’ he decided. ’Lay the best quality, and lay two lines!’

Thanks to the nature of Skeleton Architecture, nothing built was ever truly wasted. Any component that could be converted into an Undead, would be—and that even included the tracks themselves.

One by one, Undead dropped to the ground, their bones dislocating and rearranging themselves into long, eerie lines of track that snaked down the cave passage and into the darkness.

The Wandering Souls watched the tracks being laid with a mixture of confusion and curiosity, floating and drifting around them. Then they saw a square, boxy contraption moving along the tracks, CLANK-CLANKING as it came.

The Undead in the cave had already received their orders. They immediately began piling the Skeletons they had gathered into the minecart. Once it was full, the cart made a loop and headed back along the other track, CLANK-CLANKING all the way.

Upon reaching the cave entrance, the minecart entered the resource point by itself, no other Undead needed. When it emerged again, it was empty. At the same time, Li Ziyu saw through his system that his Skeleton count had increased by 100 units.

’A 10-unit investment for a minecart yields 100 units of Skeleton per trip. This is a massive profit!’

He had to admit, with the right tools, the collection speed had skyrocketed to a whole new level.

Now, the only thing limiting the collection speed was the number of tools. Li Ziyu immediately ordered another 29 minecarts.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want more; it was just that given the length of the cave, 30 minecarts was the perfect number. Any more would be a pointless expenditure, as it wouldn’t increase the collection speed.

The 30 minecarts set off one after another, and the Undead quickly grew accustomed to this new collection method. They would gather piles of Corpse Remains in advance, and the moment a cart arrived, they would unhesitatingly load it to the brim before moving on to the next.

The minecarts shuttled back and forth, a bustling procession. Viewed from the main keep, it looked just like an industrial assembly line, and Li Ziyu’s stockpile of Skeletons was increasing at a dramatic rate.

"Boss, this... this is incredible," Liu Xingxing said, stunned. He never expected to see an assembly line in the Otherworld.

Workers like the Undead needed no food and no salary. You just had to assign them a task, and they would work nonstop. Foxconn would weep at the sight; capitalists would be moved to tears.

’The Undead are the ultimate workers!’ Liu Xingxing mused. ’The soul of a worker is the soul of a grinder. To work is to be truly elite!’